Endoscopic surgical clip applier

Abstract

An apparatus for application of surgical clips to body tissue is provided and includes a handle assembly; a shaft assembly including a housing extending distally from the handle assembly and defining a longitudinal axis; a plurality of surgical clips disposed within the shaft assembly; a jaw mounted adjacent a distal end portion of the shaft assembly, the jaw being movable between an open spaced-apart condition and a closed approximated condition; and a pusher bar reciprocally disposed within the housing of the shaft assembly and being detachably connectable to the housing of the shaft assembly, the pusher bar being configured to load a distal-most surgical clip into the jaws during distal movement and remain connected to the housing of the shaft assembly and in a distally advanced position during an approximation of the jaws.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. An apparatus for application of surgical clips to body tissue, the apparatus comprising:
 a shaft assembly defining a longitudinal axis, the shaft assembly including:
 jaws supported thereon and being movable between an open spaced-apart condition and a closed approximated condition; 
 a clip carrier disposed in the shaft assembly and defining a clip channel, 
 a plurality of surgical clips slidably disposed within the clip channel of the clip carrier; 
 a pusher bar reciprocally disposed relative to the shaft assembly, the pusher bar being configured to load a distal-most surgical clip, of the plurality of surgical clips, into the jaws during distal advancement of the pusher bar, the pusher bar including a proximally extending catch; 
 an advancer plate reciprocally disposed within the shaft assembly, the advancer plate including at least one fin engageable by a shoulder of the pusher bar, wherein the shoulder of the pusher bar is configured to engage the at least one fin of the advancer plate during a distal and a proximal movement of the pusher bar to effectuate one of a distal and proximal movement of the advancer plate; 
 a clip follower slidably disposed within the clip channel of the clip carrier and disposed proximally of the plurality of surgical clips, the clip follower including:
 a lock-out tab extending from a surface thereof, the lock-out tab defining a window, wherein the window of the lock-out tab is configured to receive the catch of the pusher bar following a firing of a final surgical clip thereby preventing movement of the pusher bar in a proximal direction; 
 a first tab projecting from a first surface thereof, wherein the first tab of the clip follower is configured to be engaged by the advancer plate as the advancer plate is moved distally to move the clip follower distally to an incrementally advanced position, whereby the plurality of surgical clips are also concomitantly moved to a respective incrementally advanced position; and 
 a second tab projecting from a second surface thereof, wherein the second tab of the clip follower is configured to engage a stop feature as the advancer plate is moved proximally, whereby the clip follower is held in the incrementally advanced position thereof; 
 
 a connector plate reciprocally disposed within the shaft assembly, wherein the connector plate is detachably connectable to the pusher bar, wherein: 
 during an initial distal movement of the connector plate, the pusher bar is configured to be distally advanced with the connector plate; and 
 during a further distal movement of the connector plate, the connector plate is configured to be disconnected from the pusher bar; 
 
 a handle assembly including a trigger and a drive bar reciprocally translatable by the trigger upon an actuation thereof, wherein the shaft assembly is supported by and extends distally from the handle assembly; 
 wherein distal advancement of the drive bar results in a distal advancement of each of the connector plate, the pusher bar, and a wedge plate, wherein a physical-stop is configured to stop the distal advancement of the wedge plate after a distal end of the wedge plate enters between the jaws; wherein distal advancement of the pusher bar is configured to be stopped following an advancement of the distal-most surgical clip into the jaws by the pusher bar; and wherein the distal advancement of the connector plate is configured to be stopped after the distal advancement of the wedge plate and the pusher bar stops. 
 
     
     
       2. The apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein following the firing of the final surgical clip, the clip follower is prevented from moving proximally. 
     
     
       3. The apparatus according to  claim 2 , wherein the pusher bar defines a catch window, and wherein the proximally extending catch of the pusher bar extends proximally into the catch window; and
 wherein the lock-out tab is biased against a surface of the pusher bar such that following the firing of the final surgical clip, the lock-out tab of the clip follower is in registration with the catch window of the pusher bar, whereby the lock-out tab extends into the catch window, and whereby the window of the lock-out tab is moved into axial alignment with a travel path of the proximally extending catch of the pusher bar to receive the proximally extending catch of the pusher bar. 
 
     
     
       4. The apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein the pusher bar includes a pusher formed at a distal end thereof, wherein the pusher has a narrow profile for contacting a single location of a backspan of a surgical clip that has been loaded into the jaws. 
     
     
       5. The apparatus according to  claim 4 , wherein the pusher defines a plane that is oriented substantially orthogonal to an axis defined by the backspan of the loaded surgical clip. 
     
     
       6. The apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein the pusher bar includes a first spring clip supported thereon for connecting to a stationary feature provided in the shaft assembly when the pusher bar is in an advanced position for maintaining the pusher bar in the advanced position. 
     
     
       7. The apparatus according to  claim 6 , wherein the pusher bar further includes a second spring clip supported thereon for engaging a first feature of the connector plate, wherein the first feature of the connector plate is configured to disengage from the second spring clip following the initial distal movement of the connector plate. 
     
     
       8. The apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein the second tab of the clip follower engages stop features projecting from the clip carrier. 
     
     
       9. The apparatus according to  claim 1 , further comprising a ratchet assembly that is prevented from re-setting itself when the pusher bar does not return to a fully proximal position. 
     
     
       10. An apparatus for application of surgical clips to body tissue, the apparatus comprising:
 a shaft assembly defining a longitudinal axis, the shaft assembly including:
 jaws supported thereon and being movable between an open spaced-apart condition and a closed approximated condition; 
 a clip carrier disposed in the shaft assembly and defining a clip channel, 
 a plurality of surgical clips slidably disposed within the clip channel of the clip carrier; 
 a pusher bar reciprocally disposed relative to the shaft assembly, the pusher bar being configured to load a distal-most surgical clip, of the plurality of surgical clips, into the jaws during distal advancement of the pusher bar, the pusher bar including a proximally extending catch; 
 a clip follower slidably disposed within the clip channel of the clip carrier and disposed proximally of the plurality of surgical clips, the clip follower including a lock-out tab extending from a surface thereof, the lock-out tab defining a window, wherein the window of the lock-out tab is configured to receive the catch of the pusher bar following a firing of a final surgical clip thereby preventing movement of the pusher bar in a proximal direction; 
 an advancer plate reciprocally disposed within the shaft assembly, the advancer plate including at least one fin engageable by a shoulder of the pusher bar, wherein the shoulder of the pusher bar is configured to engage the at least one fin of the advancer plate during a distal and a proximal movement of the pusher bar to effectuate one of a distal and proximal movement of the advancer plate, wherein the advancer plate is interposed between the pusher bar and the clip follower; 
 a connector plate reciprocally disposed within the shaft assembly, wherein the connector plate is detachably connectable to the pusher bar, wherein:
 during an initial distal movement of the connector plate, the pusher bar is configured to be distally advanced with the connector plate; and 
 during a further distal movement of the connector plate, the connector plate is configured to be disconnected from the pusher bar; 
 
 
 a handle assembly including a trigger and a drive bar reciprocally translatable by the trigger upon an actuation thereof, wherein the shaft assembly is supported by and extends distally from the handle assembly, 
 wherein distal advancement of the drive bar results in a distal advancement of each of the connector plate, the pusher bar, and a wedge plate, wherein a physical-stop is configured to stop the distal advancement of the wedge plate after a distal end of the wedge plate enters between the jaws; wherein the distal advancement of the pusher bar is configured to be stopped following an advancement of the distal-most surgical clip into the jaws by the pusher bar; and wherein the distal advancement of the connector plate is configured to be stopped after the distal advancement of the wedge plate and the pusher bar stops. 
 
     
     
       11. The apparatus according to  claim 10 , wherein following the firing of the final surgical clip, the lock-out tab of the clip follower extends through the advancer plate and into a catch window of the pusher bar.